Investors eye $6.45 billion in projects in Turkey’s east
ERZİNCAN - Anadolu Agency
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Turkey’s government has received applications worth 23 billion Turkish liras ($6.45 billion) for regional projects in the country’s east, Development Minister Lütfi Elvan said Feb. 24.In remarks to the media during a visit to the eastern province of Erzincan, Elvan said, “This is above our expectations.”
He said the development program for the country’s east is the government’s highest priority, adding that investors were showing great interest.
“The country’s eastern region will not be called ‘underdeveloped’ anymore. I strongly believe that the program will be successful,” he said.
On June 17, 2016, the government announced it would introduce problem-free investment zones for companies in eastern Turkey, where some of the country’s most underdeveloped regions are located.
Under the program, the government has said it will take care of the infrastructure and government paperwork for investors who take ownership of their investments when the project gets completed.
“By supporting manufacturing, we are opening up eastern Turkey to investment,” Prime Minister Binali Yıldırım said last month. “We will give special incentives, like a 30 percent break on electricity bills, to investors who want to shift part of their investment to eastern and southeastern Turkey.”
The government also wants the development program to empower young women as entrepreneurs in 23 regions. According to Turkish officials, the program will also help stem migration from eastern Turkey to bigger, more developed provinces, such as Istanbul and Ankara.
